Robin's Song, Fabric Stacks, & Quilting Progress

"At long last," as my grandma and mom would say, Robin's Nest is on its way to the newest member of the family.

If you missed the story of Robin's Song, you can read about it here, here, here, and here.

Here's a glimpse of the border that I posted about here. (I wonder if I'll get an updated picture of the baby with her quilt.)

 I've absolutely had to fill in my stash.  I needed a border fabric for some fat quarters 

and several low volume fabrics,

 and then I ran across some low volume blues that I've needed to accompany the teacup fabric I purchased several years ago that has been languishing on my shelf for lack of accompaniment.

I do hope I have several decades left in which to continue quilting--because I'd hate to see my carefully acquired fabrics end up at a thrift store!  (I do promise not to bury them in the back yard to save my family the embarrassment of acknowledging their existence and then getting rid of them.)

While I'm waiting for more Gold Glide Thread, I'm putting in some time on the Flowerdee quilt.  (Yes, I know I need to come up with a better name.)

 I'm seldom certain how I will quilt something until the quilt is on my machine and starts talking to me.  I love that Shelli put this delicate solid plain pink in the quilt.  It really lets the quilting help it sing.

 I came up with some quick-flowing ribbons for the black, and a simple design that works well in the flowered squares, but it doesn't show up well when photographed.
Yes, I am quilting it on my treadled Necchi BU--although I'm pretty sure I need to use my Singer 15-88 treadle to quilt something really soon, because it's getting lonely.

I do love quilts with great floral fabrics although it becomes a challenge to find the right quilting pattern since the stitches won't show up well anyway.  I'm sure this quilt is going to warm someone's cold winter.

I'm linking to Connie Kresin's Freemotion by the River and Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story so you can take a look at the endeavors of other quilt makers.


Happy quiltmaking......

New Quilt to Be Quilted

As usual, I'm working on several different projects.  Yesterday my friend Shellie handed me a new one. This is one of several projects she's been working on over the summer.

 (Yes, that blue is truly what our New Mexico skies look like this morning.)

On Saturday she sat down to quilt it and decided not to--she says she loves the piecing, but not so much the quilting.  She has pieced, appliqued and quilted several projects, but hesitated to do this one.

Here is a closeup of four of the blocks:

 I'm thinking I'll quilt it as if it were pinwheels and square-in-a-square.  Since she had already purchased her thread, she sent that home with me too, two very sweet pinks.

My order of Fil-Tec Glide and Affinity from Bobbin Central arrived a few days ago.

I took a photo of it, but then didn't show it.  Yes, I've already started using one of those Magna-Glide bobbins.  I am thrilled that they work so well even in my vintage machines. (They come with instructions to remove the check spring from the bobbin case, but please note those instructions are for long-arm machines.  I just slip the Magna-Glide bobbin into my class 15 bobbin case and stitch away.  They look like they would work just fine in a Class 66 bobbin case too, but the only class 66 machine I have left is my Singer 99 handcrank, and since I can't crank and quilt at the same time, I haven't tried them in that machine.)

I had planned to start on Lynn's Star next--then when this order arrived, I realized I'd forgotten to order another 5,000 yard spool of gold--which is what I need in order to quilt her quilt.  I'm kind of hoping for an e-mail from bobbincenteral this week with some kind of special offer so I can choose some things to join the gold.  I checked the prices of the thread my friend sent home with me and am so glad I usually use Glide.  I'm eagerly awaiting the issue of their new Glide color card with all their new colors on it.

I'm linking to Judy's Design Wall Monday
and, since this new quilt is only about 48 X 56 inches, to Elizabeth's Little Quilt Monday.



Happy quiltmaking.....

Quilt Finish and Early Autumn

 This is one of the quilts Judy pieced.  I used it in my tutorial for how to quilt on a treadle machine.

 I stitched a variety of designs, changing from one block to the next.

 All this quilting was done on my vintage Necchi BU in 1919 Singer treadle irons.

 The back of the quilt is an Asian themed print that looks like it is patchwork.

 Signs of early autumn: cherry tree leaves turning.

 Last of the morning glories making seeds on the fence.

 Even the leaves on the Chinese elm that doesn't leaf out until the end of May...

 Fortunately, the sunflowers are still with us.

 And we may get some more blooms.

 

 These were from a package of mixed seeds,

 and I was really hoping for a couple of red ones,

 and, while it looks like that won't happen,

 these are so very cheery.  However, even the Father Hugo rose is beginning to sing an autumn song.

I'll take the Birds, Blossoms, and Butterflies quilt to Judy at choir practice so she can add the binding and put it in the cabinet for the Victory Quilt Ministry.

I'm linking to Freshly Pieced and Esther's WIPs on Wednesdays.

Happy quiltmaking......

Blog Hop Party Give Away Winner

This is the announcement of the the winner of a small collection of my hand-dyed fabrics from the Blog Hop Back to School Party.

 

I am thrilled to have so many new followers--I've loved checking out blogs that were new to me and meeting new quilters.  It's been so much fun to discover bloggers with whom I have things in common.

(Living out here in the middle of nowhere, I don't have a local quilt guild where I can meet other quiltmakers.)

The winner of these fabrics is Rosemary, who blogs at The Knitting Quilter. 
I wish I had a whole room full of hand dyes to give away!

This was the first time I've participated in a blog hop and give away.  It won't be the last.  It was so much fun that I'll be doing it again--maybe I can do it when I get close to the next 100 followers.

Happy quiltmaking......

 

Almost a Quilt Finish

First, thank you to all my new followers.  I hope what I share will be meaningful or inspiring.  I'm looking forward to getting to know you.

Little Miss Gardener is almost finished.  I still need to sew the binding to the back--will do it by hand this time.

The back:

 The front and some details:

 Six inch blocks.

 Plumes in snowballs.

 Continuous feather and ribbons all the way around the plain border.

 l-e quilting in the one-inch inner border and...

 in the final pieced border.  I wanted something simple and quick there to set off the elaborate feather as well as to be just functional in the busy fabric.

 Corner of plain border.

 Corner of l-e outer border.

 Corner of narrow inner border.

 Shadowy branches on quilt because leaves are starting to fall.

Jane Sassaman 2.5 inch strips, a variety of solids.

Pieced and quilted on one of my treadle machines,

a Necchi BU from the 1940's in 1919 Singer treadle irons.

And....when I finally got around to turning the page of our Mary Engelbreit calendar this morning...

I was greeted by this reminder that "Life is all about Plan B."  I don't know whose quote that is, but it is certainly true, isn't it?

By the way, I absolutely love the comments I receive from readers.  However, the amount of spam I've begun receiving has led me to require that people who comment need to have either an open I.D. or Google account of some kind.  Also, because of the difficulty I have seeing those little wavy letters and numbers, readers will not have to jump through that hoop to post on my blog since I know that by the third time I try to get it right on other people's blogs, I just give up.  I do value comments and rarely fail to respond to one via e-mail, which is why you will usually not see my responses in the comments section.

Someone told me that due to a comment or two on Facebook, I'm likely to see some visitors arriving from there.  That's pretty exciting too.  

Happy quiltmaking.....